


A Fateful Encounter

by ClaireKat



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, One Shot, cadet keith, garrison keith, garrison shiro, officer shiro, pre-kerberos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-07-27
Packaged: 2018-07-27 04:38:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7603711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaireKat/pseuds/ClaireKat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith finds himself guided by a force beyond his comprehension, compelled to investigate the Garrison and the secrets hiding within its walls. In the midst of his investigation, fate guides him into another unexpected encounter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Fateful Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this for way too long and I just wanted to post this omg. I've been watching a lot of X Files and got inspired by conspiracy theorist!Keith but I also wanted to play around with a possible scenario for his and Shiro's first meeting. I hope you enjoy!

The dorm was crowded and noisy as Keith lounged in his bunk, muddling through his homework in an uninterested haze. He had only been a student at the Galaxy Garrison for a few months now, and already he found himself growing restless for the freedom he used to know. Growing up he had never responded well to the attempts his frequently changing guardians made to curb his enthusiastic, exploratory spirit. Training at the Garrison, he couldn’t deny that he found the courses boring and the training sessions repetitive and long. The day to day monotony was more exhausting than the work they expected of him.

He shut his laptop with an indifferent hand and slid it onto the mattress beside him, rubbing his eyes as he sat up and leaned over the edge of the bed. There was an ache in his temples, a heaviness in his chest that hadn’t quit bothering him since he had come to this training base, which happened to be inexplicably placed in the middle of essentially nowhere. He had heard plenty of explanations for the carefully considered positioning of bases like this; the Garrison needed the space to allow for more flexible training grounds, the ability to expand should it be deemed necessary, and the clearance to perform some of the more specialized – and often dangerous – military exercises.

He felt the pull of fatigue on his body, yet he couldn’t seem to shake the restless hum that similarly rattled his bones. No matter what he had tried over the past couple of months – mediation, more training, throwing himself wholeheartedly into his work – there seemed to be nothing he could do to quell his inner turmoil. Whatever he chose he would be forced to remain within this facility, under constant surveillance, perpetual scrutiny. He couldn’t recall the last time he had felt so suffocated or paranoid; those were traits that usually didn’t plague the fiery cadet.

Sure, he had been known throughout a majority of his early life as someone who didn’t fall easily into the flow of things, constantly fighting the restrictions and obligations put upon him, the endless expectations of others. He was considered a traditional rebel, but for some reason Keith had also always felt that there was some sort of outside force guiding him towards something bigger, something inexplicably grander. He had been forced to adapt to numerous situations too quickly for him to ever feel like he had truly settled anywhere, and over time he began to wonder if there was a person in the solar system who wouldn’t start to feel like a leaf tossed in the wind, being raised in such a fashion.

Despite his less than stellar behavioral track record, Keith had agreed to enter the Galaxy Garrison, partially for himself and partially because his most recent guardians insisted on trying to shape his spirit into a more obedient one. It didn’t take very long for Keith to figure out that in this academy, you weren’t supposed to ask any real questions. Recruits weren’t here to push the limits of conventional knowledge, expand their thinking, or inquire about the infinite mysteries of the universe. People came to the Galaxy Garrison to be bred as soldiers and explorers for the good of the government, and that was all the administration and the generals and the professors were keen to follow through on. Such thoughts only exhausted Keith further.

He glanced around the dorm, raking a hand through his hair as he stood and snatched his uniform jacket from the bedpost. Everyone else was busy or distracted, sleeping or sealed away in their own private conversations. Keith decided that if nothing else, maybe going for a walk would give him the opportunity to quit dwelling on the negatives and tidy up his tangled thoughts. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket, stepping out into the hallway as he screened for any sounds of gruff or aged voices conversing. He certainly didn’t need the added discomfort of being confronted by a Garrison officer this evening. Part of him wondered what exactly he _did_ need.

There was something stirring in him, something that had been bothering him ever since he had entered this academy. He didn’t know if it had something to do with where this place was, or perhaps something that they were hiding here. Although he couldn’t put his finger on it, Keith sensed that there was an unavoidable reason that he was here, but this place wasn’t the _exact_ area he was meant to be. This was just a stepping stone, another section of his path that was necessary to guide him to the next objective. There was no way he was going to be able to convince anyone else of this, though, and that was fine with him; he wasn’t sure he wanted to discuss it.

On the outside Keith appeared to be cold and unnaturally focused. He supposed that was an accurate judgement of his character. He wasn’t very good at connecting with others, or making friends, and when someone finally did get the courage to approach him and initiate a conversation, his responses usually drove them swiftly away. But he didn’t understand why so many people were put off by his skepticism of the system, or his judgement of things overall. In small rumors and hushed whispers, he had undoubtedly perceived the same disgruntled opinions circulating within groups of soldiers and students alike.

He sighed and shuffled his feet across the floor, linking his fingers behind his head as he wandered throughout the dim and expansive Garrison halls. He found himself being led by the force that he still couldn’t pinpoint or wholly understand, turning this corner here, taking this short cut there, and doing his best to dodge the evening patrols. Life was always easier for him when he kept his thoughts to himself, worked on things alone, and kept any and all knowledge he accrued locked behind his sealed lips. Maybe that was why this conviction seemed to only influence him, and refused to grant him rest. Perhaps this invisible force only seemed to drive him because he was the only one qualified to discover what it had in store. He shrugged such a self-important thought to the side as he hacked the lock to a storage room he felt unequivocally drawn to.

The handle released, and Keith slipped into the room just as the sound of another set of guards approaching echoed down the hall. He heaved a sigh of relief, knowing that he wasn’t in the clear just yet; he could still be compromised at any time by an unsuspecting soul who might catch him in the act of being where he shouldn’t. Although the room was pitch black and enveloped in an uneasy silence, Keith felt himself compelled towards the other side of the room, intent to investigate one of the numerous filing cabinets lining the back wall. Once he’d gotten close enough, his eyes adjusting to the darkness, he noticed that this particular unit contained classified files pertaining to unexplained intergalactic activity.

“Intergalactic activity? But all of the Garrison’s missions into space have been mandatory retrieval or maintenance missions.”

All too easily hacking the cabinet’s lock, Keith set about thumbing through the admittedly overwhelming number of documents filed under said label. His heart began pounding, his fingers moving on their own as Keith realized that he was close to discovering something important, something groundbreaking…something that had already been discovered, but was hidden from the public eye. For an organization that claimed to be doing work for the good of humanity, Keith wondered how they could sleep at night knowing there was so much they felt compelled to hide.

“Hey, what are you doing in here?”

Quite wrapped up in his investigative frenzy, Keith was caught off guard by the unexpected visitor and their greeting. He did his best to discreetly stow the file that had led him all this way under his jacket, spinning around as quickly as he could and closing the cabinet with an obnoxiously loud slam. His limbs began trembling but he did his best to maintain a composed, unreadable expression, knowing that if he even thought about giving away why he was here it would all be over. His defensive posture slackened a bit when he recognized the figure who had walked in on him.

“Oh, Officer Shirogane…ah, I’m sorry, I was just –”

“Don’t bother giving me any crap about someone giving you the jurisdiction to do this; I know that if any of the officers needed something from this room, they’d come themselves, or send someone higher up the ranks than you, Cadet.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Keith bluffed unconvincingly.

“Look, why don’t you try being honest with me about why you’re in here, sifting around the dark in the dead of night…and I won’t rat you out?”

“I can’t explain,” Keith replied, deciding maybe the route of honesty _would_ be his quickest and easiest avenue out of here. “I really can’t, I just…I got restless, went for a walk, ended up drawn to this room. Doesn’t make a lot of sense, does it?”

“No, it really doesn’t,” Shiro replied, his expression softening from one of disappointment to amusement. “But I guess sometimes things just don’t make sense, do they? C’mon, I’ll escort you back to your dorm.”

Keith accepted his offer without reply, hoping that cooperation would lead to a less severe punishment down the line. His track record at this academy had been far from clean since he had arrived, and he hoped that following this officer’s orders would help this regrettable situation turn out better for him in the long run. Only the sound of the boys’ rhythmic footsteps could be heard as they trekked through the snaking halls of the facility.

Keith considered that this officer, Takashi Shirogane if he wasn’t mistaken, was one that he had seen before in his own piloting seminars. He was a pleasant person and an outstanding officer, having risen through the ranks of the Garrison with a combination of charisma and skill that was known to dazzle most people he came into contact with. He was due to leave on a routine space mission at the end of the year, although he hadn’t demonstrated an ability to outperform Keith in the vein of piloting or even hand to hand combat training. His technical skills aside, it wasn’t hard to see why he was regarded with such high acclaim by all echelons of the Garrison.

“So, feel like telling me a little bit more about yourself? Or, again, why you felt so compelled to go snooping in the office where all of the extra sensitive Garrison documents are kept?” Shiro inquired, hoping that Keith would bite on at least one of his questions.

“I really don’t have a lot to say about it, other than I’m sorry, I guess.”

Shiro couldn’t help but chuckle at Keith’s clear underestimation of the stakes of the situation. He couldn’t deny that the Garrison needed risk takers like this one, people who would push the envelope without any proper sense of when to quit. It might not be very good for the logistics of the organization, but not all of the officers here could deny that a rule breaker every now and then was one of the only ways worthwhile progress could be made. At least, that was the merit Shiro saw in Keith’s chaotically neutral nature.

“I’m not one of the people you need to apologize too…but I’m also sure that one day, I’ll get those answers from you,” he continued, stopping outside of the dorm to face Keith. “Maybe you’ll even show me what you were able to slip away with.”

Keith opened his mouth to retort, anxious about the possibility that Shiro had actually seen more than he was meant to. Had Keith misconstrued just how competent of an officer Shiro was? Regardless, Shiro wasn’t content to be cut off just yet.

“Don’t give me any excuses or defenses right now; this isn’t the time or the place. But maybe we could arrange a meeting, discuss some of those impressive flight techniques of yours that’ve been circulating within the upper ranks? You probably don’t believe me, considering your reputation, but I’d be interested in finding out more about you, even if no one else is. There’s no denying you’ve got potential, especially with your flight, combat, and stealth skills combined. I would hate to see it go to waste because you got too ahead of yourself.”

“I don’t need someone watching out for me.”

“Sure you do! Everyone does, even if they don’t acknowledge it at first. I don’t know where I’d be without the Commander I have today. So how about you cut the cool guy routine and we start off with chatting a bit during a break? We can always get to the conspiracy stuff later.”

Keith wasn’t exactly thrilled at the idea of making any further acquaintance with this man, but he could sense that even if he argued he wasn’t going to be able to get out of it. “You know, I’m not really sure when I’m going to have any free time –”

“That’s okay, I’ll just check your schedule myself,” Shiro replied, taking Keith’s hand to shake it before Keith could shrug him off. “Suppose I should formally introduce myself. I’m a interplanetary missions officer, Takashi Shirogane, but my friends call me Shiro.”

“Uh…”

“I’ll be seeing you around, Cadet.”

Keith could already feel the displeasure churning in his stomach. He couldn’t tell if being picked out by this stranger was going to turn out to be any more pleasant than it would have been if he had been discovered by any other Garrison officer and just accepted his punishment. He absently brushed his hand against his stomach, realizing that the file he had nicked was still present, still real. He had succeeded. Even if he wasn’t sure what to expect from this overly friendly officer, Keith knew that he had just gained access to another piece of the puzzle that wouldn’t let him rest. Slipping back into his dorm, he stowed the sensitive document away in a place that wouldn’t be pilfered even if a mandatory dorm sweep was conducted. Maybe having Shiro on his side, someone who wanted to know more instead of just observing from the surface, could be beneficial to him. Only time was sure to tell.


End file.
